Four Quebec athletes would have their first attempt to qualify their spot at the Pan-American Senior Qualifiers for the upcoming Olympic Games which were held in Acapulco, Mexico on February 28th to the March 1st. Stone Lewis (74 kg Freestyle), Alex Moore (86 kg Freestyle), Linda Morais (68 kg Women’s Wrestling) and John Yeats (77 kg Greco-Roman) were present at the event.
The event is a challenging one as only the top two places will qualify for the Olympics. Should they miss their chance, our athletes would be able to try again at the World Olympic Qualifier in May in Istanbul Turkey.
The tournament would begin with Greco-Roman wrestling. John Yeats’ first opponent would be Alvis Albino Almenddra of Panama. John would win the match 5-5 by criteria and advance to the next round where he would face Pena Flores Yosvanys of Cuba. John would start off strong but would lose the match via Technical Superiority by a score of 8-0.
John Yeats vs. Alvis Albino Almenddra
Women’s Wrestling would be the next to go on Thursday as Linda Morais look to try and qualify in a new weight division. Linda’s first opponent would be against Caraballo Hernandez Soleymi Antonieta from Venezuela. Linda would start the match off strong but would get caught in a transition and would lose via pin.
Linda Morais vs. Caraballo Hernandez Soleymi Antonieta
Last to the mat would be the Freestyle Wrestlers. Stone Lewis and Alex Moore would be our final athletes to compete at the event. Stone’s first match would have him face off against Sonny James Santiago of Puerto Rico while Alex would be pitted against Jorge Ivan Llano of Argentina. Stone would start the match off strongly, looking to advance his position. He would end up losing the match via Technical Superiority (10-0).
Stone Lewis vs. Sonny James Santiago
In Alex’s first match he would begin slowly but would finish off in a dominant fashion, winning by Technical Superiority (11-0) and move on to face Ceballos Fuentes Pedro Francisco of Venezuela in the semi-finals.
Alex Moore vs. Jorge Ivan Llano
In his next match, Alex would start off the match by controlling the mat. Despite a low score, Alex would be ahead on points by a score of 2-0. Alex would catch Francisco on his back to secure the pin and punch his ticket to Paris for the 2024 Olympics!
Alex Moore celebrates his well earned victory!
Congratulations to Alex Moore for qualifying for the 2024 Olympic Games and good luck to our athletes who will compete at the last Olympic Qualifier in Istanbul, Turkey.